China 'can't save' N. Korea even if it collapses: ex-general

BEIJING, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- China would not help save North Korea even if the neighboring North's regime collapses, a former general of China's military said Tuesday, in rare explicit comments that possibly reflect Beijing's growing frustration with its unpredictable ally.

"China is not a savior," Wang Hongguang, former deputy commander of the Nanjing military region of the People's Liberation Army, wrote in an op-ed published by the Global Times newspaper, which has close ties with China's ruling Communist Party.